Ppl go to admission consultants to get their essays reviewed. But I have always believed that my sister,who is a copy editor is much better than him. I have asked for a feedback and inputs on my essays.

She is lazy but I think she will respond and help me in my quest for ISB.
Keeping my fingers crossed.!

Last time , I was tensed and nervous, and was preparing hard, and I failed.

This time, I have a hundered things running in my mind,and I feel like a loser,but I will do well.

Coolness is the key.

Whether you are looking at improving ur verbal score or want to read about someone's
GMAT experience, GMAT Club is the best source. (http://www.gmatclub.com)
Sandeep (abisurd..not absurd) was a regular visitor.:) Hez an inspiration to a lot of folks . Also, Paul,Praet-the 'CEO's of the club provide terrific explanations that will clear your concepts. Just the way you brush your teeth twice a day , visit the site and interact...I bet you'll get addicted to it.

Erin's www.sentencecorrection.com is another site where you can learn a lot. Nice rules you will find there.

Lee's http://www.scoretop.com is a good one too. But I usually use it to download materials (which I hardly read!)

The MBA Caste System

October 25, 2004

There are two kinds of MBA institutes in India -- a handful from which you leave with a pedigree and the vast majority which offer just degrees. In the first category lie the IIMs, XLRI and, to a lesser extent, FMS and Bajaj -- the institutions which pioneered the concept of management education at a time when the IAS was a far more wanted career path.

In the second lies a vast array of institutes -- the good, the mediocre and the dubious. Evaluating the value proposition in the latter category is the daunting task faced by the majority of MBA aspirants.

The alumni is the brand

So what is it that sets the crème de la crème apart? Resources, faculty, infrastructure? That's just part of the story. By that reckoning, university departments like FMS and Bajaj should have been knocked off their pedestal a long time ago by newer entrants with deeper pockets. But 'pedigree', as the dictionary defines it, is a 'line of ancestors'. In the case of management education, ancestry has one simple definition -- the alumni.

The older institutes boast of alumni who joined the corporate world two-three decades ago and are at -- or very near -- the top today. The alumni effect is two-fold. At the obvious level, the companies they run ensure the alma mater is always on the recruitment radar. But, at a subtler level, alumni achievements rub off on the mother brand, and hence on the current crop of students.

In a sense, the alumni community IS the brand because they are the finished products, so to speak, of the MBA manufacturing process. And they form the one unique component in the matrix that cannot be duplicated by more recent institutes. That, in a nutshell, is the competitive advantage enjoyed by pedigree institutes which -- in the immediate future -- will remain unbeatable.

The 'merit-based' caste system

It's a modern form of the ancient caste system. Once you were born into it, now you arrive into it based on 'merit'. So, you have the 'Brahmin B schools' and some recruiters will visit only these schools, year after year, stating proudly, "We don't go to institutes below Bajaj." There is a certain prestige attached to such companies and this recruitment policy works simply because the number of jobs on offer is pretty small.

Hotshot consulting firms or investment banks essentially need to pick up a dozen fresh MBAs, at max. So it makes great sense to visit only the top schools. And there too, pick up the 'top' students. It's sad but true -- the Cats and Dogs phenomenon continues to hold sway. Despite the fact that all the folks who made it to an IIM-A beat the same odds, some ARE more equal than others.

The 'I schols' breed

This is the breed known as the 'I schols' -- a campus term for the top 20 students who are awarded 'industry scholarships'. The pecking order is swiftly and brutally established in the first few weeks on campus and usually holds good for the rest of the year. And whaddaya know? A large number of toppers are invariably IITians.

Partly because they are smart and hypercompetitive. But mostly, I think, because they're better equipped to face academic rigour and pressure. Four years at IIT, you've seen it all, done it all. The workload at an IIM, which hits the rest of the junta like a ton of bricks, is no big deal to an IIT grad.

A level playing field?

To offer a more level playing field, CVs sent to companies for summer placements at IIM-A now don't carry the student's CGPA. But the end result is still the same. Coveted recruiters look for the undergraduate background of the student and invariably shortlist those from IIT. IIM may be a brand name, but IIT-IIM is sone pe suhaga.

The IIT crowd will gleefully circulate this column in their e-groups, as further proof of their inherently superior status. Some, I expect, will feel compelled to write to me enumerating exactly how and why IITians really are a breed apart. Believe what you will. My point is: where does it end?

Reaping the benefits or paying the price?

We are reaping the benefits -- or paying the price -- for the actions of our ancestors. Company X has recruited a particular profile of candidates for the last 20 years and will thus continue to pick up the same kind of applicants. At the most basic level, this means it will stick to certain B schools, and within those B schools to certain kinds of students.

It's not just about how well you do at the interview but whether your profile matches with what's worked for the company in the past.

Yup, that's almost as crude as racial stereotyping but no point railing and flailing because that's how the human mind works. It unconsciously tries to fit each individual into a category, making complexity more manageable. We are invariably drawn to people like ourselves.

Companies rationalise that, this way, they get the people who fit into their culture. But the flip side of it is that everyone essentially thinks alike. And can that, in the longer run, really be considered a good thing?

Reasons of merit apart, the policy of sticking to a few select B schools keeps all concerned happy. Recruiters are happy to be in demand at the 'best' B schools, students are happy to be on the exclusive radar of the 'best' recruiters. Maintaining the status quo keeps the halo intact for both parties.

One man's Cat can be another man's Dog

So although numerous B school rankings may be published every year, it rarely if ever alters the recruiter's pecking order. For 'class' or the jobs requiring brainwork, it's a select few institutes. For 'mass' or the gruntwork jobs, it's down the B school ladder. And how low down this ladder a company will go depends on how many freshers it requires.

With so many new sectors opening up -- retail, insurance, BPO, telecom -- it would seem the job pie has grown exponentially. True, except that B school you graduate from often still determines whether you eat your slice at the chairman's table. Many companies follow differential recruitment policies. Better salary, designation and job profiles are offered to the more premium grads.

But, in an ironic twist, one man's Cat can be another's Dog. Several reputed companies -- especially Indian ones -- prefer to recruit from less elite campuses. These MBAs, they believe, work harder to prove themselves and are far more loyal to the organisation.

It's a different thing that, given half the chance, the same MBAs would jump to join the very MNCs that won't touch them!

One final consolation: Dog or cat, at the end of the day the MBA is but a rat. The right MBA can set a scorching pace. The question most forget to ask is -- am I running the right race?

As the dayz pass, the sense of urgency to make it to ISB increases.
The situation stands the same as before.
I have to work on the essays,reco,GMAT and mail the final thing.
But the good part is that now I have started visualising that Iam already in ISB.
I dream that Iam student and how same day next year I would be in ISB.

Earlier,preparing for GMAT and the essays etc was a painful process.
But now, itz different..I see that as a step towards my goal.
Change in attitude...Change the score and u'll be a hero man.!

Essay 3c
c)Post ISB where do you think you would like to be professionally

Here are the responses that I read in the grp.I have put all of them together ....Therez a lot of gyaan in the archive section of this yahoo grp.. Do a bit of research and u won't need to ask the same question again. :)

Raja (Current ISB student) says:
You could tell your short term, medium term and long term goals here. And possibly tie it all in with ISB - how difficult it would be to do all that without going through ISB. Different people will take different approaches, some will name dream companies, some will talk about positions etc. Nothing is wrong - adcom just wants to know if you have thought about the usefulness of getting an MBA.

Stuti(Prospective applicant )
My views on this question - Its basically a Why MBA, Why Now, Why ISB question - so you talk about what your career goals are, and how an MBA right now and
ISB in particular, are consistent with your plans to reach those goals. If you are career changer, your why mba question will have that as one of the major reasons for the mba. In that case, it would probably make sense for you to talk about your proposed new
career and again how isb/mba will work towards that..Just saying that you are planning a career change wont help much.. You got to show that you have done the
requisite homework on the new field/career you are targetting and and that pursuing an mba is part of a well thought out plan for the same..
Nitin Narang:(Prospective applicant ) i would just like to add on to this .. This answer
will also help the adcom to evaluate whether your goals are realisable after the MBA (both short and long term).. and importantly whether you will be
employable after the PGP from ISB .. An institute needs to think your employment probability before offering you admission

Mudit Garg((Prospective applicant ):
I tend to somewhat disagree with Stuti. This question is not related to "Why MBA, Why Now" but more to "What After MBA and Why That" . I think that the questions wants you to state clearly what you want to do after graduation - the kind of work u wanna do after mba and Why that kinda work ? Also, yr short term and long term plans. I might be worthwhile mentioning how isb helps u achieve your goals.That's it ( may be too much for 200 words! )

Sushant Gupta(Prospective applicant,Round 2 hopeful):
Just to add to the same, you don't really have to explicitly state that you seek a career change. Your essay will make that evident when it is compared with your CV.
You need to relate your past experiences to what you seek to do post-MBA. Really, the MBA should serve as that bridge to get you to your changed career path. Its up to you to demonstrate that the decision to pursue an MBA and then venture into a new area was part of a well thought plan, or atleast one that you have made after having learnt along the way that you do need to switch your line of work. I am using a similar line of thinking in my case.

BWeek school rankings

BWeek has the ratings of the Best B schools. Check this link for details
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/toc/04_42/B39040442bschools.htm

The squash court at ISB.
Iam good at squash.I have been playing it for about 8 yrs now.

Yeah,it might sound silly. but here is another reason why I should be there same time next year.

The big boss.

Whoz gonna interview you this December? Yeah, meet Mr VK Menon,the man who heads the adcomm this year. Hope he smilingly takes me. He better.:)



Management is a creative process for V K Menon (in the picture), director of admissions, (IIM-Bangalore, 1980-1982), Indian School of Business.

He believes the total picture comes only after one has managed to garner many diverse inputs like academic performance, work experience, background and special skills along with one's test scores.

"Monetary gains apart, the student should be ensured of the quality of education, an interactive platform where he gets to test his ideas and concepts in real terms and an international edge or exposure in terms of key value proposition," he says

Read more here

ISB begins where IIMs end(http://us.rediff.com/money/2004/oct/25isb.htm)

Piyush Pandey in Ahmedabad | October 25, 2004 09:27 IST


The average salary of a Indian Institute of Management student after completing a two-year post graduate programme in management is comparable with the entry level salary for students of Indian School of Business's one-year post graduate programme in management.

While a student passing out of the IIM course could get around Rs 6 lakh (Rs 600,000) a year, an average student entering ISB (the institute takes only employed candidates) gets around 5.5 lakh (Rs 550,000). The average salary of a student passing out of ISB's course is over Rs 9 lakh (Rs 900,000) per annum.

"Where IIMs ends, ISB begins. IIMs cannot be compared to ISB. We are competing with the international B-schools across the world. The vision of our institute is to become an internationally top-ranked, research-driven, independent management institution that grooms future leaders for India and the world. We have students joining ISB after coming out of IIMs," Aarti Bansal, PGP student at ISB, said on the sidelines of Tata Confluence-2004 being hosted by IIMA.

ISB classrooms are equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual and video-conferencing facilities, and the entire campus is enabled for broadband connectivity to the Internet and the ISB intranet.

Asked about the four-fold higher tuition fee charged by ISB, Tarun Kohli, PGP student at ISB, said: "We get the best infrastructure in the country. Not a single student at ISB has been turned down because of his/her inability to pay tuition fees. Banks sanction loans within 48 hour of application and various other corporates sponsor students. Moreover, one can recover a substantial amount of the fee within the very first year of placement."

ISB offers a one-year post graduate programme, a post doctoral research fellowship programme, and short-term open and customised executive programmes amongst others.

"ISB's partnership with the world's leading business schools, like the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and London Business School makes it the most unique B-School in the Asia Pacific region," said Harsh Khandelwal, PGP student at ISB.

ISB's curriculum focuses on managing business in fast-evolving environments, with strong emphasis on entrepreneurship, the impact of technology on commerce, and managing the emerging markets of Asia amongst others.

"The faculty pool at the ISB is better than any other B-school in the country. As prize-winning academicians, authors, and entrepreneurs, our faculty represents a highly valued asset to the school," said Chaitanya Challa, another PGP student at ISB.

The ISB Centres of Excellence are being set up to promote research and thought leadership. While a focus on emerging markets will underpin all research, each Centre will focus on one area, namely technology, leadership and change management, strategic marketing, analytical finance, and entrepreneurship.

The first of these centres, The Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurial Development has already been established and the centre for analytical finance has started operating recently.

Life @ISB

To know more about life at ISB, check out the MBA journal of my
batchmate Shyam at BW or copy paste this link.!
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/mbajournal/04narayan/1.htm

Rankings...Rankings

Reco Letters

Just finished writing the draft for 2 reco letters. In the meantime,decided that I should go for another one. ISB does not say this is necessary but since I have a low GMAT score,I think I should go for it.


Reco questions:Under what circumstances and how long have you known the applicant?

a)Rate the applicant’s achievements when compared to those of his or her peers and note the Reference group with which you are making your comparisons.

b)Comment on the applicant’s personal integrity.

c)Please discuss observations you have made concerning the applicant’s leadership abilities and group skills.

d)How would you describe the applicant’s sense of humuor ?

e)Please discuss the applicant’s salient strengths.

f)What reservations would you have (if any) about the applicant? What efforts has the applicant made to improve in these areas?

g)Please provide any additional comments concerning this applicant. Comments regarding the applicant’s Aptitude for graduate work and a career in business and management will be especially appreciated.

Ten commandments to get into a B school

GMAT is the gatekeeper - crush it, than move on .

GMAT is definitely not the end all, be all - a good score guarantees nothing! So many applicants just don't seem to understand this

Your story is what will seal the deal - this should be written into all aspects of your app. Essays are the most important, but it should also come out in your interviews, recommendations, transcript, etc.

Make sure to address all weaknesses - Sounds obvious, but most applicants do a poor job of doing this. Below avg. GMAT?, better prove you can handle the rigor, Low WE? Show the depth and breadth of experience you've had in that time in and out of professional environments. Go to a no-name undergrad? Give rationale reasoning as to why and prove that you received a top-notch education there.

Interview with passion - Prove to the adcomm that their school is #1 and that you're going to impact the world based on your education there

Apply early - Be a shark and go round 1 across the board, submit round 2 if your apps aren't quite ready. Regardless, never submit at the deadline - go at least 1 week earlier

Coach recommenders - Give them sample recommendations, your gameplan so they can tie into your story and make sure they tailor the reco to the school

Apply to schools based on fit and never apply to a school you wouldn't attend - There actually a fair number of people who will apply to a safety and decide not to go. Why'd you apply there in the first place? Figure out what schools fit with your needs and apply to those - don't get caught up in the race for prestige

Visit the campuses of your top schools - Nothing beats being able to write that you sat in class, talked to students/profs. It shows committment, plus you'll get a good feel for the school. Yes, there are differences.

Community service & extra-curricullars are a must - Some top schools are known to ding on this basis alone

Want to get in touch with current and ex students of ISB.
Well, you will have to wait for some more time before you actually see me in ISB.

For the time being, You can see profiles of some students at
this address.

The admission season has started and one finds a lot of discussions and debates happening about ISB. A lot of them have basic questions like 'should I apply for ISB' or 'How is the placement scene'. These are the kind of questions for which you cannot get direct answers. Personally,I felt the discussions and the responses (Ramki's) were better last year than this year. But, the season for admission has just started.Let's wait and watch.

BTW, Stuti came up with the challenges (limitations) that ISB needs to look into.
Nice discussion.

Here are the points:
- Limited diversity in both nationalities represented and professional backgrounds - Indian IT males might form bulk of the classroom

- Limited alumni network, atleast as of now - so how much can you depend on such networks for jobs/opportunities, etc. might be a question

- Limited brand recognition outside of India. So if you are looking to work in the US/Europe or elsewhere, the value you will get from the brand
right now might be limited

- A limited number of full time professors coupled with lack of any research being conducted - I believe a total of 4 or 6 research centres are
currently in the planning stage..

- The diversity of recruiters might be limited. So if you are non-IT background, for e.g. non profit sector, etc., how useful the career office is
in getting you a job, might be limited and so might be the opportunities you get

- Its a 1 year program, so conceptually, its not particularly suited for a career changer

- The range of electives might be smaller than some of the top 15 us b schools

- If you are looking for placement outside of India, its a difficult proposition -as they is a very small percentage of students who get such offers

- Quite a few big shots organizations are on the board of ISB - but how many of these hire at ISB and in what numbers, might be a question.

IIM-A among world's top 100 B-schools
October 18, 2004 18:15 IST

Ahmedabad's Indian Institute of Management and four other business schools from Asia have figured amongst the world's top 100 management schools in a survey published by the prestigious London-based weekly Economist's Intelligence Unit.

IIM-Ahmedabad has been ranked 64th in the list. Only four other Asian schools figure in it.

School of Business of Hong Kong University (ranked 68th), Graduate School of International Management of International University of Japan (84th), Nanyang Business School of Nanyang Technological University of Singapore (93th) and China Europe International Business School (95th) are the other Asian institutions.

Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University has topped the EIU's ranking for full time MBA programme for the third year in succession.

It was a matter of pride for India as in one of the categories, 'open new career opportunities,' IIM-Ahmedabad was ranked first, followed by Tuck School of Business of Dartmouth College and Kellogg.

The survey used four parameters to arrive at the rankings in which views of students and alumni represented 26 per cent of the score allocated to each school while the remainder was based on data provided in the school questionnaire.

ISBLife blog has some words of wisdom from the ISBians on writing essays. Here, I have copied and pasted them in case you struggle to find the stuff.

A reader of this blog, Sunil Iyengar, wrote to me asking me how one should go about writing essays for the ISB application. Instead of telling him what I think should be done, I mailed a couple of people in ISB asking them for some fundaes on what strategy they adopted while writing B-School essays. Here is what they had to say:

Tarandeep (Tarandeep_Ahuja at pgp2005.isb.edu):
Be yourself. Get the essay reviewed by some people who you know are good and will give you constructive feedback. Make sure it ties up with the rest of your application - The application is to be looked on as a whole - don’t look at essays separately. Essays are the opportunity for you to tell the person reading something about yourself, that isn’t captured in your resume. But most importantly - Be yourself.

Amandeep(amandeep_singh at pgp2005.isb.edu):
Admission essays are one of the most crucial aspects of the MBA application package. As a result, they should be informative, unique and also reflective of your personality, achievements and interests. I have just given the broad themes and how you should approach for writing essays on them.

Why MBA and Future Plans?
Arguably, this is one of the most important essays. Convey how your past experiences and your future plans motivate to get you an MBA. The essays should convey a strong sense of future. You should concretely identify the sort of position (preferably only one) you intend to pursue and should lay out the steps needed to get to that position. The whole essay should display a logical layout and should convey a strong sense of optimism and success.

Why this school?
In this essay articulate why this school suites you the most. Go through the website of the school thoroughly. Collect info from your friends or other contacts. Talk about the course curriculum and how it fits with your future goals. You can dwell on the school’s diversity, faculty or any other aspect you find fascinating (Could be friendly student body, research orientation etc).

Why You?
This essay is the perfect marketing board for you. To demonstrate that you are unique and also desirable candidate for the school, make this essay speak your personality out. Write in the style which comes naturally to you. Highlight your major achievements. Most of all support your assertions with examples.

Apart from that be concise and avoid verbosity. Be clear of common grammatical and structural issues of the essays. Finally a good beginning and a well thought out ending can make a lot of difference!

Kanan (kanan_nabar at pgp2005.isb.edu ):
I started well in advance - it takes at least 1 month (especially if you're working and doing apps after work hours or on weekends) and over 4-5 drafts.

Looked at the entire application as a package - it was after all my face to the admission's committee. Actually listed down my USPs & tried to bring that out through various examples. I always knew that with my non-engineering/non-CA background, 'diversity' was my ticket to a seat at any b-school - so played that up sufficiently and highlighted how my experiences could add value to a classroom.

Most importantly, tied everything in like an integrated campaign - even made my referees read my essays before drafting their recommendation letters so that they'd focus on similar attributes (as highlighted in my essays)

Girish (girish_nanappa at pgp2005.isb.edu):
This year's essay topics are very similar to last year's, with the notable exception of the case based essay. How did I approach writing for them? To tell the truth... pretty much whatever came to me at 9 am on the coffee-fuelled last day of the application deadline :) But then, you see, I had by then, spent an inordinate amount of time thinking over the essays and making notes for each of the topics so it all tumbled out quite easily.

So here is what really worked - spend some time looking at the topic you are most comfortable with. Every time you are in a meeting (What? You mean you don’t have meetings? You ARE working, aren't you?) and someone bores on with mindless statistics, its Time To Think About Your Essays. Make a list of things you have done until now - where you did your schooling, college - and what were the things you achieved there that would set you apart from other students. Like Dee (name changed to protect identity) could write of his amazing ability to locate a high quality, free-porn site from among the millions of very mediocre ones that lie scattered over the Net or Daman could talk about his preternatural ability to sniff out alcohol from a distance of over 300 yards. Or like the time your teacher made you stand in the sun when you would not rat on your thieving classmate, and the principal who publicly commended you for your integrity.

Or the time you overcame your extreme vertigo by signing up for flying lessons through your NCC squadron. Even the time that you got caught in flagrante delicto critically comparing physical differences with your teachers daughter, behind the shelves in the chemistry laboratory... er... maybe not. In any case, the stuff that you think is complementary to your 'One Page' resume. Using the resume as a template, put in some flesh and blood so that you come out looking like a whole person. When we look at your first essay - thats what we are looking to get a sense of. Remember you are trying to create a wholesome image of yourself that helps you stand out in the applicant pool. It really helps to talk to your peers or long time friends and get their view of what they see in you - they usually discern those qualities in you that you might discount heavily.

While 600 words might seem like a lot - try putting it all down and you will find that you are usually very short of space (like Dhar told me to keep this post to 200 words :) ). Do not feel constrained to fill in the application by hand - you can create the same template on MS-Word or StarOffice and get a neat print out of the essay topic and your response and attach it to the application.

The next two topics - the ethical dilemma and how you faced failure are important. It is very tempting and feels easy to manufacture a set of fictitious events and how you reacted in each case. But these are also very easily apparent to an objective reader, no matter how convinced you are about your powers of persuasion. Again, real life is stranger and far more interesting than fiction and these questions attempt to make you examine yourself. Each persons responses to this question will be unique and if you gave these about half an hour of thought each, it should be easy to come up with a good sequence of events from your life. Four hundred words can be enough space to explain why you felt compelled not to look at the guaranteed leaked question paper, or why you felt strongly enough not to fill in a weekly work report because you had done nothing the past week to justify billing the client.

Failure can be another mechanism by which you can put out what drives you and how you respond. It is also good preparation because failure happens here on campus even to the best of us - it is your ability to deal with it that will help you maintain your sanity and poise. So put it down as honestly as possible (for example being part of a company layoff, while painful, may not in itself be a failure, however the days afterward in which you confront dirty reality can certainly bring on the feelings of failure very strongly).

The last three topics are very straightforward. Most people have experience of working in teams, of watching good leaders within their own peergroups or organizations and should be able to relate easily and naturally to this set of topics. 200 words is a good sized paragraph, so dont sweat it, think about what you usually bring to a team meeting - you could be the one that breaks up the tension usually, or the one who usually does the groundwork or even the one who usually initiates meetings to get the team together - just put it down. The last one is a concise statement of where you would like to be with your ISB MBA - and it will be something that you will most probably be telling the recruiter when you interview for jobs at the end of the next year!

In all your essays please use good grammar. No matter how routine it may seem, bad grammar could just make the difference between you and a lesser applicant - or it could be really bad if in your Business Writing Class, yours is the essay that gets chosen for the "How Not to Write an Essay" example ;)

All the very best!

Here are the US News (2004)ranking for B schools:

Business Specialties: Accounting
1. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
2. University of Texas–Austin (McCombs)
3. University of Chicago
4. University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign
5. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
6. Stanford University (CA)
7. University of Southern California (Marshall)
8. New York University (Stern)
9. Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL)
10. University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
11. Columbia University (NY)
12. Indiana University–Bloomington (Kelley)
13. Harvard University (MA)
14. University of Rochester (Simon) (NY)
15. Ohio State University (Fisher)
16. Brigham Young University (Marriott) (UT)
Cornell University (Johnson) (NY)
18. University of Florida (Warrington)
University of Georgia (Terry)
University of Washington
21. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
University of California–Berkeley (Haas)
23. Arizona State University–Main Campus (W. P. Carey)
24. Duke University (Fuqua) (NC)
University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson)
University of Notre Dame (Mendoza) (IN)
University of Wisconsin–Madison
28. Michigan State University (Broad)
University of Iowa (Tippie)
30. Texas A&M University–College Station (Mays)
University of Virginia (Darden)


Business Specialties: Entrepreneurship
1. Babson College (Olin) (MA)
2. Stanford University (CA)
3. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
4. Harvard University (MA)
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
6. University of Southern California (Marshall)
7. University of California–Berkeley (Haas)
8. University of Texas–Austin (McCombs)
9. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
10. University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson)
11. Columbia University (NY)
University of Chicago
13. Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL)
University of Arizona (Eller)
15. University of Colorado–Boulder (Leeds)
16. Ball State University (IN)
Indiana University–Bloomington (Kelley)
University of Maryland–College Park (Smith)
University of Virginia (Darden)
20. New York University (Stern)
21. Case Western Reserve University (Weatherhead) (OH)
22. Dartmouth College (Tuck) (NH)
23. University of Notre Dame (Mendoza) (IN)
24. Cornell University (Johnson) (NY)
St. Louis University (Cook)
26. Duke University (Fuqua) (NC)
Wake Forest University (Babcock) (NC)
28. Baylor University (Hankamer) (TX)
San Diego State University

*This ranking was computed in January




Business Specialties: Finance New! Ranked in 2004*
1. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
2. University of Chicago
3. New York University (Stern)
4. Columbia University (NY)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
6. Stanford University (CA)
7. Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL)
8. University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson)
9. Harvard University (MA)
University of California–Berkeley (Haas)
11. Duke University (Fuqua) (NC)
12. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
13. University of Rochester (Simon) (NY)
14. Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
15. Cornell University (Johnson) (NY)
16. University of Texas–Austin (McCombs)
17. Dartmouth College (Tuck) (NH)
University of Virginia (Darden)
19. Indiana University–Bloomington (Kelley)
University of Illinois–Chicago (Liautaud)
21. Yale University (CT)
22. Ohio State University (Fisher)
23. University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign
24. University of Florida (Warrington)
University of Southern California (Marshall)




Business Specialties: Information Systems
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
2. Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
3. University of Texas–Austin (McCombs)
4. University of Arizona (Eller)
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities (Carlson)
6. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
7. University of Maryland–College Park (Smith)
8. Georgia State University (Robinson)
New York University (Stern)
10. Stanford University (CA)
11. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
12. University of California–Irvine
13. Purdue University–West Lafayette (Krannert) (IN)
14. Indiana University–Bloomington (Kelley)
15. University of California–Berkeley (Haas)
16. Harvard University (MA)
17. University of Georgia (Terry)
University of Pittsburgh (Katz)
19. Arizona State University–Main Campus (W. P. Carey)
20. Bentley College (McCallum) (MA)
University of Southern California (Marshall)
22. Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL)
University of Connecticut
24. University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign
25. Rochester Institute of Technology (NY)
26. University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson)
University of Rochester (Simon) (NY)
University of Washington



Business Specialties: International
1. Thunderbird Graduate School (AZ)
2. University of South Carolina (Moore)
3. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
4. Columbia University (NY)
5. New York University (Stern)
6. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
7. Harvard University (MA)
8. Duke University (Fuqua) (NC)
9. University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson)
10. University of Southern California (Marshall)
11. University of California–Berkeley (Haas)
12. Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL)
13. Stanford University (CA)
University of Chicago
15. Georgetown University (McDonough) (DC)
Indiana University–Bloomington (Kelley)
17. Michigan State University (Broad)
Temple University (Fox) (PA)
University of Texas–Austin (McCombs)
20. George Washington University (DC)
University of Hawaii–Manoa
University of Washington
23. Florida International University




Business Specialties: Marketing
1. Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL)
2. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
3. Harvard University (MA)
4. Columbia University (NY)
5. Duke University (Fuqua) (NC)
Stanford University (CA)
7. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
8. University of California–Berkeley (Haas)
University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson)
10. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
11. New York University (Stern)
12. University of Chicago
University of Texas–Austin (McCombs)
14. University of Florida (Warrington)
15. Dartmouth College (Tuck) (NH)
16. University of Wisconsin–Madison
17. University of Southern California (Marshall)
18. Indiana University–Bloomington (Kelley)
19. University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
University of Virginia (Darden)
21. Cornell University (Johnson) (NY)
22. University of Minnesota–Twin Cities (Carlson)
23. Emory University (Goizueta) (GA)
Ohio State University (Fisher)
25. University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign


Business Specialties: Production/Operations
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
2. Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
3. Purdue University–West Lafayette (Krannert) (IN)
4. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
5. Stanford University (CA)
6. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
7. Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL)
8. Harvard University (MA)
9. University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson)
10. Indiana University–Bloomington (Kelley)
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
12. Columbia University (NY)
13. University of Texas–Austin (McCombs)
14. Georgia Institute of Technology (DuPree)
Michigan State University (Broad)
University of Chicago
17. Cornell University (Johnson) (NY)
Ohio State University (Fisher)
19. University of California–Berkeley (Haas)
20. New York University (Stern)
University of Wisconsin–Madison
22. Penn State University–University Park (Smeal)
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities (Carlson)




Business Specialties: Supply Chain/Logistics
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
2. Michigan State University (Broad)
3. Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
Stanford University (CA)
5. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
6. Ohio State University (Fisher)
Purdue University–West Lafayette (Krannert) (IN)
8. Arizona State University–Main Campus (W. P. Carey)
9. Penn State University–University Park (Smeal)
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
11. Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL)
University of California–Los Angeles (Anderson)
13. University of Maryland–College Park (Smith)
University of Tennessee–Knoxville
15. University of California–Berkeley (Haas)
16. University of Texas–Austin (McCombs)
University of Wisconsin–Madison
18. Harvard University (MA)
19. University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
20. Columbia University (NY)
21. Indiana University–Bloomington (Kelley)
22. University of Chicago
23. Dartmouth College (Tuck) (NH)
24. University of Rochester (Simon) (NY)

ISB Essays for this year:

Long essays
*Evaluate your application and provide a critical assessment of it. Outline factors that might differentiate you from others from a similar background.
(600 words maximum)

Medium Length Essays
Maximum of 400 words each:
-Discuss an ethical dilemma that you experienced first hand, and how you resolved it.

-It is said that successful leaders learn as much from their failures as they do from their successes. Discuss a situation in which you failed and what you learnt.


Short Essays
Complete the following questions or statements. (maximum of 200 words each):

a)ISB places a lot of emphasis on teamwork. Tell us about your experiences in working as a part of a team. Your essay should talk about the difficulties that you faced and how you overcame them.


b)How do you define leadership ? Take the example of a leader you admire (living or deceased), and indicate the traits you like.

c)Post ISB where do you think you would like to be professionally

Iam thinking hard on this essay.

It is said that successful leaders learn as much from their failures as they do from their successes. Discuss a situation in which you failed and what you learnt.

Here are some pointers that I gathered

* Remember you are applying for an MBA education where your peers are going to have an avg work ex of 5-6 years. Some from middle management (maybe even more) level. For them 'failure' is more related to failure at work.There is every chance that these professional have forgotten that they had failed a course during their school days!!


* B schools like ISB want to recruit leaders and make them better leaders!! So as a school, when they are asking you a question about failure they want to understand what leadership potential you exhibited during such times of crisis or when things do not go as per your 'plans' or what did you LEARN from it. Writing about a failed course in your school becos of (say) viral fever ........ What can i infer about u from this. Every student regardless of his 'potential' will face failure if he has severe viral fever!! Moreover what can you say you learnt from this....


* B schools are looking for professionals who by very definition want to succeed in life by learning out of everything they do and that happens to them. They are very focused in their goals and hence everything that is written in the application will have some tangible connection to their goals. Essays are a means to show to the adcomms that 'you' are one such professional. By writing 'imaginary' stuff, the adcomms who are masters of this will just read through it and your credibility will be instantly lost.


* Remember, adcomms consider this very 'inability' to identify your own failure as a 'FAILURE'. So do not fall into that trap.


* Just to help you get started,
a) think about something you were very passionate about but just could not get the desired results becos you overlooked the whole picture
b) Think about a communication gap becos of your assumptions etc that led to a failure
c) Think about a time when you could not make the deadline becos you did not plan in advance
d) Remember something about how you messed up a relationship (professional is better) becos you messed up with the choice of words or flow of thoughts etc

The bottom line is - The failure incident must have a lesson that you have learnt and you are practicing now and which would be very useful in you future business career!!

I realize GMAT is just a month's away and I need to do some effective studying.
The last time. I just completed the material in a hurry. This time retention and effective study is the key. Wounded tiger has to strike back.

Okie..This time it is going to be final. No more changes in thoughts.
The decision is final.Will apply to ISB this year and will aim for R1.

Broadly, have to classify the work to be done into the following major tasks.

a) Prepare the recco, provide inputs and get two effective letters.
b) Keep working on the essays again and again until they look polished and correct.
c) Try building an effective resume.
d) Work on any extra cca.
e) Study for GMAT ( the toughest part)

Itz my bday today and come what may, I'll kick everyone's butt and make it to ISB this year.!!